Staffing Plan

Business Application of a Staffing Plan-
An important part of developing a staffing plan for any company is to determine how many people you need to hire and in what functional areas (manufacturing, operations, customer service, distribution, marketing, finance/ accounting). Develop strategies to recruit the appropriate applicants. Be sure to include a discussion of how the strategy is legally compliant.

Staffing Plan
(This is a sample staffing Plan for Heather's Crew)

Staffing is one of the most important responsibilities of a human resource manager. In order for business operations to run smoothly and efficiently, a capable staff must be employed and turnover must be carefully monitored. To do this, companies should determine an appropriate staffing plan in advance. Since Heather’s Crew is a small company, the owners handle most office work and marketing efforts. However, it is important that Heather’s Crew keeps a well-qualified and motivated group of contracted workers in place to handle all construction projects. Part of the staffing plan for this company is to generally hire contractors on a "per-project" basis rather than on an hourly wage. Generally, these workers are required to be certified and capable in at least one area of expertise. Still, the company benefits from keeping a strong relationship with a few well-rounded workers capable of performing a variety of construction tasks. Therefore, Heather’s Crew has developed a staffing plan that outlines what type of workers must be hired, the process by which those people are recruited and the interview process that is followed.

A critical part of developing a functional staffing plan is to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the jobs that need to be filled. Many small construction companies delegate office responsibilities, like accounting, marketing and customer service, to the owners. “Through the process of work flow design, managers analyze the tasks needed to produce a product or service. With this information, they assign these tasks to specific jobs and positions” (Gerhart, Hollenbeck, Noe & Wright, 2007). Successful companies recognize that as growth occurs, new positions must often be created. Because increased marketing efforts result in a heavier workload, the owners’ responsibilities have become more overwhelming. When any company experiences an increase in business, the company is wise to review its staffing plan. At this time, the company has determined that enlisting the help of an answering service is the best use of money and resources. This decision was made after considering the cost of wages and benefits of an employee dedicated to just answering the phone, against the per-call charges occurred using an answering service. An office staff, including people to help with accounting, marketing, data entry, and customer service, are future goals of the company. Still, Heather’s Crew's largest need, as determined in the staffing plan, is for workers who are certified to install roofing, windows, siding, and room additions.

Therefore, the company will use its resources to recruit well-qualified construction workers. In a struggling economy, recruiting qualified construction workers is much easier than in a more stable economy. In slow months, many applicants search the Internet and local directories for work. They end up calling each construction company, inquiring about job openings. In the same way, some applicants use the Internet to locate the company’s email address, and then send their resume through that forum. The staffing plan, however, may change as economic conditions change. When the economy is thriving and qualified workers are scarce, Heather’s Creq will use free recruitment tools like Craigslist and contacts from its supply company to recruit applicants and schedule interviews. Craigslist hosts “local classifieds and forums for 570 cities in 50 countries worldwide - community moderated, and largely free.” (Craigslist, 2009) When the company posts positions on Craigslist for the Charlotte area, hundreds of applications are sent to the human resource mailbox within the first day. The company can also consider using recruiting websites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com or the local newspaper.

To set reasonable expectations of job requirements, Heather’s Hammers has created job descriptions, which are lists “of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities (TDRs) that a job entails” (Gerhart, Hollenbeck, Noe & Wright, 2007). These job descriptions help applicants understand the required skills and qualifications needed to perform the functions for which they are under consideration.

Therefore, Heather’s Crew has created a rigorous interview process as part of the staffing plan that helps to realistically evaluate the level of capabilities each candidate possesses. The company must consider many legal and practical issues during this process, and therefore uses a four-stage interview to obtain a useful picture of the candidate’s full potential without allowing undeserved responsibility on a project. The first step, which is thoroughly outlined in the staffing plan, is for a candidate to meet with the owners and discuss in detail the process of performing a number of tasks, answering in detail what tools and materials are needed. If they seem knowledgeable enough, the next step is to accompany an owner on an estimate. On repair estimates, the worker must be able to identify all problems, and determine the best way to correct those problems stating what materials and tools will be necessary.

Similarly, on installation estimates, the worker must give a detailed description of what steps must be taken and what materials and tools are needed to correctly finish the project according to industry standards. The third step is to take the applicant on a paid repair project. One of the owners is present during the entire process, evaluating the applicant’s abilities. If the worker's skills during a repair are adequate, the last step is to pay them for a full project, also completely monitored by one of the owners. This allows Heather’s Hammers to weed out unqualified applicants, and build a relationship with qualified workers that allows the company access to their talent as needed.

Heather’s Crew, as a North Carolina based company, is protected by the employment at will policy, “which holds that if there is no specific employment contract saying otherwise, the employer or employee may end an employment relationship at any time, regardless of cause” (Gerhart, Hollenbeck, Noe & Wright, 2007). Even so, the company prefers the benefits of contracting employees to specific projects. Each worker must fill out an I-9 form, and is given a project-specific contract, listing the terms of payment and tasks to be performed. Even though Heather’s Crew does not use a standard hiring process, it must still respect candidates’ privacy rights and understand that “the information gathered during the selection process may include information that employees consider confidential” (Gerhart, Hollenbeck, Noe & Wright, 2007). Heather’s Crew is also limited in the type of questions asked during the interview. Though many applicants do not appear to be U.S. citizens, Heather’s Crew may only legally ask for identification and proof of eligibility to work in the United States. The company may not directly ask if the applicants are born in the U.S. or if they are American citizens, and must respect legal boundaries. A company's staffing plan must be considerate of both state and federal discrimination guidelines.

Therefore, each step of the hiring process must be well thought through and intentional. Heather’s Crew has developed a staffing plan that details the type of workers that are needed, and the best process to recruit and evaluate people for those positions. Owners also have goals to hire additional office workers as marketing efforts increase the number of projects completed each week. Each step of this process must follow both organizational and legal guidelines, and is important in attaining the most qualified and productive workers in the industry. Because of its workers, Heather’s Crew has built a reputation for having both affordable prices and exceptional workmanship. This has led to profitability and growth in a struggling economy.

References
Gerhart, B., Hollenbeck, J., Noe, R. & Wright, P. (2007). Fundamentals of human resource
management. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Best, S. (2009, March). Craigslist. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from Craigslist | about > factsheet
Web site: http://www.craigslist.org/about/factsheet